Page 5 - Winter 19-20

Is it Safe? An overly-cautious patient by Ilse Pedler, UK
I was waiting for the next client during evening surgery the other day when the consulting room door opened a few cm and a lady with rather a worried expression on her face
considered myself pretty low risk. So, with a fair degree of certainty now, I replied Yes, it’s definitely safe, would you like to come in, I usually find it works better if the patient’s in
know the family dynamics and tensions and often deep- seated worries and emotions come to the surface. I’m sure you’ve all been in the position of having someone say, I’ve
peered in. She glanced around anxiously and said in a whisper, Is it safe? I immediately thought of the 1976 film Marathon Man and had to resist the temptation to look behind me to see if Alec Guiness was brandishing a dentist’s drill!
After I’d gathered my thoughts I said, Is what safe? The room, the worried looking lady replied. I must admit I contemplated a variety of answers; I’d just treated a Jack Russell whose main interest in life seemed to be biting vets, but I was pretty sure he’d left the building, we’d had our electrical safety tests done only 2 weeks before and I
the same room as the vet? And I gave what I thought was my best encouraging smile.
I must admit the lady’s comment stayed with me all day. I started thinking about what safe meant to different people, what could people and animals want to be kept safe from and also what role I have in that provision of safety. The consulting room is a privileged place and the homeopath’s consulting room even more so I think. We are allowed into an owner’s life to a greater extent than conventional vets because of the length of time we spend with clients and the type of questions we ask. We get to
never told anyone that before. I feel it is an awe- inspiring thing that people do place their trust in us but it is also a great responsibility and one that should never be taken lightly. After thinking about it some more, I would also say my consulting room is a place of confidentiality, security, understanding, laughter and love and above all most definitely safe.
For those of you dying to ask the question, the lady was concerned about germs and bringing her dog into an unclean environment primarily and yes, several remedies did spring to mind!
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